Why the Right-Wing Bullies Will Hold The Nation Hostage Again and Again
by Robert Reich
When I was a small boy I was bullied more than most, mainly because I was a foot shorter than than everyone else. They demanded the cupcake my mother had packed in my lunchbox, or, they said, they’d beat me up. After a close call in the boy’s room, I paid up. Weeks later, they demanded half my sandwich as well. I gave in to that one, too. But I could see what was coming next. They’d demand everything else. Somewhere along the line I decided I’d have a take a stand. The fight wasn’t pleasant. But the bullies stopped their bullying.

I hope the President decides he has to take a stand, and the sooner the better. Last December he caved in to Republican demands that the Bush tax cut be extended to wealthier Americans for two more years, at a cost of more than $60 billion. That was only the beginning — the equivalent of my cupcake.

Last night he gave away more than half the sandwich — $39 billion less than was budgeted for 2010, $79 billion less than he originally requested. Non-defense discretionary spending — basically, everything from roads and bridges to schools and innumerable programs for the poor — has been slashed.

The right-wing bullies are emboldened. They will hold the nation hostage again and again.

In a few weeks the debt ceiling has to be raised. After that, next year’s budget has to be decided on. House Budget Chair Paul Ryan has already put forward proposals to turn Medicare into vouchers that funnel money to private insurance companies, turn Medicaid and Food Stamps into block grants that give states discretion to shift them to the non-poor, and give even more big tax cuts to the rich.

There will also be Republican votes to de-fund the new health care law.

“Americans of different beliefs came together,” he announced late last night. It was the “largest spending cut in our history.” He sounded triumphant. In fact, he’s encouraging the bullies onward.

All the while, he and the Democratic leadership in Congress refuse to refute the Republicans’ big lie — that spending cuts will lead to more jobs. In fact, spending cuts now will lead to fewer jobs. They’ll slow down an already-anemic recovery. That will cause immense and unnecessary suffering for millions of Americans.

The President continues to legitimize the Republican claim that too much government spending caused the economy to tank, and that by cutting back spending we’ll get the economy going again.

Even before the bullies began hammering him his deficit commission already recommended $3 of spending cuts for every dollar of tax increase. Then the President froze non-defense domestic spending and froze federal pay. And he continues to draw the false analogy between a family’s budget and the national budget.

He is losing the war of ideas because he won’t tell the American public the truth: That we need more government spending now — not less — in order to get out of the gravitational pull of the Great Recession.

That we got into the Great Recession because Wall Street went bonkers and government failed to do its job at regulating financial markets. And that much of the current deficit comes from the necessary response to that financial crisis.

That the only ways to deal with the long-term budget problem is to demand that the rich pay their fair share of taxes, and to slow down soaring health-care costs.

And that, at a deeper level, the increasingly lopsided distribution of income and wealth has robbed the vast working middle class of the purchasing power they need to keep the economy going at full capacity.

“We preserved the investments we need to win the future,” he said last night. That’s not true. The budget he just approved will cut Pell grants to poor kids, while states continue massive cutbacks in school spending — firing tens of thousands of teachers and raising fees at public universities. The budget he approved is cruel to the nation’s working class and poor.

It is impossible to fight bullies merely by saying they’re going too far.

© 2011 Robert Reich
Robert Reich is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written twelve books, including The Work of Nations, Locked in the Cabinet, and his most recent book, Supercapitalism. His "Marketplace" commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.


http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/09-4

Robert Reich is one of my very favorite political figures. I think he should be Emperor of America.

So you equate stealing to demanding spending cuts? I wonder how many Americans should have to go to jail after they cut their own budgets during the recession. Damn thieves.

"Stealing"? What are you talking about?

I am talking about the authors comparison of a bully "stealing" his lunch to republicans demanding of budget cuts.

It seems appropriate to me to compare one kind of bully with another kind of bully. Whether it's stealing lunch money or holding the country hostage to budget demands for the sake of lower taxes for rich people, it's still bullying.

So it's ok for the liberals to raise taxes so they can give it to people who don't want to put forth the effort to achieve more themselves. If you raise taxes on those making over 250,000 the majority of whom are small business owners all that will happen is they will have to get rid of employees or they will pass the higher taxes of in the price of their product or cost of their services. So in the end the "rich" stay rich while those middle class and poor end up loosing out because they can't afford the goods or services. And if it's something they need they have to sacrifice somewhere else.

That's not true. They will keep their money in the business where they will pay no taxes at all if they spend it on wages and salary ort other business expenses.

I see it no different than the President saying he will veto something if it is not his way.

arguing with a lib is like arguing with a tree...they just don't get it

Left wing bullies at it again!

It was the left wing that caused this mess in the first place.

Now if MISTER DONALD TRUMP and the men he hired to dig deep into MISTER Obama's national heritage and come up with proof he lied, and to all you "He is so a Citizen" liberals out there, Why doesn't he just show us the frikken birth Certificate already instead of tossing $2 MILLION to hide the fact he DOES NOT HAVE ONE!

Mr. Trump says his team has found a lot of alarming and disturbing information.

Should it come to light Obama and the Democratic Party did pull the biggest Scam of history what then?

Left Wing lies, Right Wing lies, they all are liars but REID is a criminal!

And so our two tag team liberals are now at it spewing more propaganda on mingle. So sad! Your boy Obama is failing us more than Jimmy Carter did!

Obama could never get a security clearance based on his past! I bet I could get one. That gives me one up on Obama!


DONALD TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT!

Later fleas!

And to get this out of the way sooner than later,

BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA!


Whatever! Defending a criminal and a liar is weak!

Why would you expect him to do it your way? He obviously doesn't share your opinions, and I certainly don't either.

I honestly dont blame him for his commendation of congress for finally WORKING TOGETHER on something and getting something done.

Compromise and negotiation is how things get done when dealing with a country this size, noone is ever going to get everything just the way they want it to be so they stand on some issues and concede on others, they tweak bills to include certain contingencies to offset whatever sacrifice they feel they had to make,,,,


I prefer it , for now, they can argue and tweak the details as time moves on, but it was better than either side having to 'win' so badly that theyd shut down government. IMHO

OP's quote is misguided.

What we just saw in congress is the people standing up to the bullies that have been holding our economy 'hostage' for several years now. (and using 'humaneness' as its club).

The economy will never 'recover' if government does not shrink its influence in it.

(in a wise way).

the people voted him to presidency, and as incompetent as he is, he has the power to veto whatever he wants. Every president has been the same way, and we will never know all the details on what or why. But the bottom line is, either you trust the elected officials or you don't. I do not, none of them...Mainly obama, is has proven to many times what a liar he is...

here here!